When the Dallas Mavericks traded guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Anthony Davis last Saturday, there was one man many fans wanted to hear from above all Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban.
Once upon a time, Cuban was one of the NBA’s brashest owners. His association with Dallas is such that may fans do not realize he is no longer the Mavericks’ majority shareholder—that distinction is held by Miriam Adelson, the widow of the late resort and newspaper baron Sheldon Adelson.
On Friday, Cuban finally broke his silence about the trade in a conversation with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in Richardson, Texas.
“I’ve had a rough week,” Cuban told Gates to begin the event per Sarah Hepola of The Dallas Morning News.
Cuban then made a dead-on analogy to his fellow magnate, who is promoting his autobiography Source Code: My Beginnings.
“If after you left Microsoft, you found out that (ex-Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer traded Windows 11—like, the new hot operating system—for Windows 10, the Hall-of-Fame but older operating system, what would you do?” Cuban asked.
“I might have to hide from the press,” Gates replied.
“I know a couple of other people that are in that situation,” Cuban said to laughter and applause.
